Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses
| Published | April 2013 |
| Conference | LAK '13: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge Pages 170-179 |
| Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
As MOOCs grow in popularity, the relatively low completion rates of learners has been a central criticism. This focus on completion rates, however, reflects a monolithic view of disengagement that does not allow MOOC designers to target interventions or develop adaptive course features for particular subpopulations of learners. To address this, we present a simple, scalable, and informative classification method that identifies a small number of longitudinal engagement trajectories in MOOCs. Learners are classified based on their patterns of interaction with video lectures and assessments, the primary features of most MOOCs to date.In an analysis of three computer science MOOCs, the classifier consistently identifies four prototypical trajectories of engagement. The most notable of these is the learners who stay engaged through the course without taking assessments. These trajectories are also a useful framework for the comparison of learner engagement between different course structures or instructional approaches. We compare learners in each trajectory and course across demographics, forum participation, video access, and reports of overall experience. These results inform a discussion of future interventions, research, and design directions for MOOCs. Potential improvements to the classification mechanism are also discussed, including the introduction of more fine-grained analytics.
| Keywords | MOOC · learner engagement · trajectories of engagement |
| Published at | California |
| Language | English |
| Refereed | Yes |
| DOI | 10.1145/2460296.2460330 |
| Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
Viewed by 489 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.
Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Digging deeper into learners' experiences in MOOCs: Participation in social networks outside of MOOCs, notetaking and contexts surrounding content consumption
Veletsianos, George; Collier, Amy; Schneider, Emily
Researchers describe with increasing confidence what they observe participants doing in massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, our understanding of learner activities in open courses is limited by researchers' ...
Match: Schneider, Emily
MOOCs for professional teacher development
Jobe, William; Östlund, Christian; Svensson, Lars
A MOOC is a trending concept in education that is disrupting traditional methods of
learning consumption. The emergence and use of MOOCs for professional teacher development is still uncommon, but on the verge of ...
Match: MOOC; United States
Toward a typology of MOOC activity patterns
Bachelet, Rémi; Chaker, Rawad; Kloos, Carlos Delgado; Jermann, Patrick; et al.
This paper aims at understanding MOOC learners' activity patterns, taking into account factors like personal schedule, traditional working hours, domestic time, nighttime and their relation with MOOC course opening ...
Match: MOOC
MOOCs @ Edinburgh 2013 – Report #1
Group, MOOCs@Edinburgh
A report summarising the experience of the University of Edinburgh of offering our first 6 massive open online courses (MOOCs) in partnership with Coursera
Match: MOOC
Brief report on Open Praxis figures and data (2017)
Inés Gil-Jaurena
In the first Open Praxis issue in 2018 we briefly report on some statistics and information about Open Praxis development. The report covers the period January 2013 - December 2017, with a special focus in volume 9, ...
Match: MOOC
Using mLearning and MOOCs to understand chaos, emergence, and complexity in education
de Waard, Inge; Abajian, Sean C.; Gallagher, Michael; Hogue, Rebecca; et al.
In this paper, we look at how the massive open online course (MOOC) format developed by connectivist researchers and enthusiasts can help analyze the complexity, emergence, and chaos at work in the field of education ...
Match: MOOC
Are you MOOC-ing yet? A review for academic libraries
Creed-Dikeogu, Gloria; Clark, Carolyn
What is a MOOC? What should librarians know about MOOCS? This article introduces librarians to Massive Open Online Courses by discussing the historical development, key structure and features that make them a unique ...
Match: MOOC
Flipping the blend through MOOCs, MALL and OIL – new directions in CALL
Orsini-Jones, Marina; Smith, Simon
This book presents a snapshot of innovative blended learning practices that either stem from the affordances of web 2.0 technologies or illustrate the re-purposing of ‘older’ ones, like the creation of tailor-made ...
Match: MOOC
Developing a strategic approach to MOOCs
Ferguson, Rebecca; Scanlon, Eileen; Harris, Lisa
During the last eight years, interest in massive open online courses (MOOCs) has grown fast and continuously worldwide. Universities that had never engaged with open or online learning have begun to run courses in these ...
Match: MOOC
Reluctant mathematician: Skills-based MOOC scaffolds wide range of learners
Lambert, Sarah
The University of Wollongong’s first locally developed and hosted Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “The Reluctant Mathematician” was run in the last four weeks of our summer holiday, prior to Autumn session in ...
Match: MOOC









